Page 148 - Vinkler, Jonatan, Ana Beguš and Marcello Potocco. Eds. 2019. Ideology in the 20th Century: Studies of literary and social discourses and practices. Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 148
Ideology in the 20th Century: studies of literary and social discourses and practices
posion would have no chance of being published in the Stalinist block, in
Yugoslavia the journal was possible and that would be the case even if its
creators would question the idea of Yugoslavness. We should not forget
that some Symposionists got involved in prohibitions and scandals (just
like the New Leftist criticism of the Praxis-circle in Zagreb held the gov-
ernment responsible for not representing leftist values).
The question is whether aesthetic and poetic procedures might be in-
dependent from this Yugoslav cultural political game. The avantgarde,
unconventional, anti-authoritarian approach towards political themes
always meant a problem, for example, with regards to ethnic minorities
(e.g. the much disputed writing of Sándor Rózsa) or the freedom of artis-
tic creation and art criticism (e.g. the writings of Viktória Radics, Ottó
Tolnai, Miroslav Mandić, the performances of Katalin Ladik, the poem
148 Orgia mechanika by Ottó Fenyvesi, or the activity of János Sziveri).
Playing with rules established by power was not only formulated
along the lines of openly political questions but also on the poetic-aes-
thetic level. One of the graphic designers of Új Symposion, Ferenc Baráth
recalls:
We had no conventional solutions in graphic design. Typography was char-
acterized by chaos, by a mess produced by taste and playfulness. That be-
came our self-imposed profile. The textual content determined the visual
design of a particular issue. Poetry or prose: I adjusted myself to that; the
text determined the suitable typography (2017, 30).
Leaving aside the issue on pornography, this practice would not have
resulted in prohibitions. This does not mean, however, that it has only
raised apolitical aesthetic questions or that it supported the regime’s ide-
ology. If we compare it to the self-representative imagery of Tito’s regime,
then the experimental, unconventional visuals of Új Symposion could be
regarded as an alternative to the official socialist realism (cf. Dánél 2016;
Faragó 2018). The fact that it was realized through state-funded support
constituted the paradox. As long as the editors followed the rules defined
by the government, there were no problems.
‘Cosmopolitan Reservations’
Huizinga interprets poetry as more than an aesthetic phenomenon:
The first thing we have to do to gain such an understanding is to discard
the idea that poetry has only an aesthetic function or can only be explained
in terms of aesthetics … All ancient poetry is at one and the same time a
posion would have no chance of being published in the Stalinist block, in
Yugoslavia the journal was possible and that would be the case even if its
creators would question the idea of Yugoslavness. We should not forget
that some Symposionists got involved in prohibitions and scandals (just
like the New Leftist criticism of the Praxis-circle in Zagreb held the gov-
ernment responsible for not representing leftist values).
The question is whether aesthetic and poetic procedures might be in-
dependent from this Yugoslav cultural political game. The avantgarde,
unconventional, anti-authoritarian approach towards political themes
always meant a problem, for example, with regards to ethnic minorities
(e.g. the much disputed writing of Sándor Rózsa) or the freedom of artis-
tic creation and art criticism (e.g. the writings of Viktória Radics, Ottó
Tolnai, Miroslav Mandić, the performances of Katalin Ladik, the poem
148 Orgia mechanika by Ottó Fenyvesi, or the activity of János Sziveri).
Playing with rules established by power was not only formulated
along the lines of openly political questions but also on the poetic-aes-
thetic level. One of the graphic designers of Új Symposion, Ferenc Baráth
recalls:
We had no conventional solutions in graphic design. Typography was char-
acterized by chaos, by a mess produced by taste and playfulness. That be-
came our self-imposed profile. The textual content determined the visual
design of a particular issue. Poetry or prose: I adjusted myself to that; the
text determined the suitable typography (2017, 30).
Leaving aside the issue on pornography, this practice would not have
resulted in prohibitions. This does not mean, however, that it has only
raised apolitical aesthetic questions or that it supported the regime’s ide-
ology. If we compare it to the self-representative imagery of Tito’s regime,
then the experimental, unconventional visuals of Új Symposion could be
regarded as an alternative to the official socialist realism (cf. Dánél 2016;
Faragó 2018). The fact that it was realized through state-funded support
constituted the paradox. As long as the editors followed the rules defined
by the government, there were no problems.
‘Cosmopolitan Reservations’
Huizinga interprets poetry as more than an aesthetic phenomenon:
The first thing we have to do to gain such an understanding is to discard
the idea that poetry has only an aesthetic function or can only be explained
in terms of aesthetics … All ancient poetry is at one and the same time a
